Meet Me Halfway
by Kandra Slade
Summary: Avaney is lovestruck after she shares a passionate night with her long-time secret crush. Now her boyfriend has returned to the province and she must figure out if their broken relationship can be fixed, or if her and Chris should be together forever.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! This is the first story I'm posting on FanFiction. I started writing it with an 'in the moment' style, meaning there is little character background in the first couple chapters but it builds as the chapters go on. The characters are all made up, and the story isn't based on anything. As a writer I LOVE hearing feedback so I hope you will enjoy the story as the chapters unfold, and take the time to review every once in awhile!

**Chapter 1**

Avaney walked into the house; her head spinning with the sudden warmth of the front hall after stumbling home in the winter night. She giggled for no reason at all and he shh'd her while holding in his own laughter.

"Go downstairs I'll be there in a sec," Chris whispered.

She made her way to the basement, only then realizing they were about to have their first moment alone together in six years. The thought was terrifying. She tiptoed across the newly stained wood floor and collapsed on the leather couch. Damn it. Her head really was spinning.

She tried to focus on the framed, autographed NHL photos that lined the wall behind the pool table. The whole basement was classic, really. On the other side of the room sat the bar his dad had only just completed days before, reminding her of an old-fashioned but classy Irish pub.

And then she heard the non-sober thumping of a male coming down the stairs. Her heart was rushed with a feeling of...she wasn't sure what. Uncertainty? Excitement? Absolute irrational fear?

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, obviously discovering that he, too, was slightly more tipsy than he had realized minutes earlier in the cool, January air.

"Well hey there," she said, a smile spreading across her face.

She watched him walk over to the couch and sit down next to her.

"My hand was bleeding," he told her.

"What? What happened?"

"I broke a beer bottle and tried to clean it up and I guess I cut myself."

She squeezed in beside him, closing the gap of couch between their bodies.

"Let me see," she said, and tenderly reached for his hand. He slowly lifted it toward her, letting her for the first time touch him in a way that was more than just friendly.

The corners of her mouth curved up into a tiny grin, and she knew she couldn't let this moment pass them by. She lifted his hand to her lips, and kissed it ever so gently, letting her lips linger on his skin.

He felt the warmth of her breath pass over his hand and suddenly needed to feel the softness of her lips on his. He closed his eyes, hoping she couldn't hear what seemed to be the loudest and most obvious heartbeat he'd ever heard.

He opened his eyes and turned his head to face her, a serious look suddenly washing over his face. And then, like some kind of perfect, wonderful scene in a movie, he slowly brought his face to hers and kissed her.

At first it was gentle and soft, like he was afraid of breaking her if he kissed too hard. She sat there, very still, focusing every bit of energy in her body into the electricity sparking between their faces.

She realized she was still holding his injured hand and dropped it, throwing her arms around his neck. Now he kissed with passion, grabbing her face and pressing his lips hard into hers.

He pushed her down to her back and his built, muscular body hovered over her. He stopped kissing her only for a second as he lifted her arms above her head and pulled off the thin, black tank top she'd worn that night.

"Chris," she said. "I've been waiting for this for a long time."

"Me too."


	2. Chapter 2

She woke up to the sound of her cell phone blaring its obnoxious pre-set alarm tune

She woke up to the sound of her cell phone blaring its obnoxious pre-set alarm tune. She blindly reached for the phone and turned off the hideous noise, pausing only to discover that this wasn't her own bed.

Chris had left her there in his sister's bed only a couple hours before (Michele was a dancer on a cruise ship and rarely spent time at home). Avaney hadn't wanted him to leave her, hadn't wanted the night to finally end. She kept thinking, maybe if they never went to sleep, the night would last forever.

But here she was, her head throbbing and the rest of her body screaming at her to never drink again. She managed to pull herself from beneath the ivory-coloured quilt and shuffle downstairs, still groggy from lack of sleep.

"Well hello there, sunshine!" Chris practically yelled to her as she entered the kitchen. He was whistling to himself and preparing a breakfast of toast and cereal for his youngest sister, Brianne.

Light was streaming in through the wide kitchen windows. The sound of his whistling was soothing and the faint sound of Bri's cartoons in the background reminded her of when she was a child.

"Want something to eat?" He asked her.

"Umm, I don't think I can eat right now. My stomach is a little unsettled," she answered.

He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with ice and water. He slid the glass across the island countertop that sat in the centre of the kitchen and it stopped inches from her hands.

"You're too good," she told him. He flashed a smile back at her as if to say, "I know."

She sat on the counter's stool and sipped her water, watching how at ease Chris seemed to be that morning. She wondered why she felt so nervous as the previous night's events washed over her.

First the walk home when she'd leaned on him and laughed into the night, trusting that he'd get her back to his warm, cozy house. Then the kiss, and all the other kisses that seemed to go on and on.

Suddenly her hangover pain was gone. She couldn't feel the blearing headache, the blisters from her heels or the turning of her stomach. All she felt was happy. Not as an emotion, but as a physical thing consuming her.

This was Christopher, the goofy boy with braces and thick, moppy hair that she'd met that day at Wonderland nearly seven years ago. She'd been expecting to spend the day with her uncle and his new fiance. It had been an unpleasant surprise when all of Deanna's extended family had shown up to join in on the excursion.

"You like Catch 22?" He'd asked her because of the band's tank top she'd been wearing. "Yeah, I love them." She spent the rest of the day figuring out how she could weasel in next to him on as many rides as possible. At dusk, it was just the two of them on the massively frightening Drop Zone ride. He had made her feel safe.

Now she looked at him in front of her, happily placing the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. He no longer had braces or moppy hair, but model-straight teeth and a short, styled do. Add the dark, chocolate brown eyes and muscular body of a triathlete, and here he was: an object of perfection.

"You ready to leave?" He asked her as she was brought back to reality.

"Yeah, we should get going," she said. But inside she wanted to stay in this kitchen, in this immaculately decorated but still lived-in house, in this place that somehow felt every bit like home.

"See you, Bri," she called before walking reluctantly through the back door into the garage.

Chris' giant, red Ford sat there alone, seemingly waiting for the day when Chris would again be home to drive it. He hadn't had the truck with him at school that year, and it was obvious they missed each other.

"Hey there, girl," he said as he lovingly patted the truck's hood. "Let's go for a ride."

Avaney wasn't surprised when they pulled out from the driveway and Chris put the new Carrie Underwood CD on. They hadn't talked about this CD yet, but of course they'd both bought it right after it was released. Taste in music was one of the things they'd always just understood about each other. The sweet, country twang of Carrie was no exception.

She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and not even attempting to pull the now permanent smile from her face. She'd had nowhere near enough sleep and nowhere near too little to drink the night before, but yet, this morning was her own personal definition of paradise.

Soon they'd be at her uncle's hockey game, surrounded by each of their respective families. They'd be able to share glances across the stands but nothing more. She knew Chris. She knew he'd act like nothing happened, like they were the same jolly old friends as before. But how could he pretend it was nothing, when it was everything?


	3. Chapter 3

It had been three days since the annual hockey tournament came to a close with the Macedonian Lions losing in the quarter finals

It had been three days since the annual hockey tournament came to a close with the Macedonian Lions losing in the quarter finals. She'd wanted them to win so badly –for her uncle and for her culture. But she knew in her heart that most of all, she'd wanted them to win so her and Chris could have spent just a little more time together.

As it was, their hangouts were limited to family occasions. Engagement parties, her cousins and his nieces birthdays…anything where both their families were involved. Unfortunately this ended up amounting to only a few precious get-togethers per year.

They stayed in contact by sending emails; they always had. There'd be whole months where they'd go without sending anything to each other, and then just like that they'd catch up and be close again. But after their recent night together, she was still trying to figure out how she would handle the barely-there communication until the next family occasion.

What she had been ignoring since the day she found out that her and Chris were going to a party together, was her boyfriend, Alex. He'd left for Montreal nearly two months before to teach snowboarding at Mount Tremblant for the winter season. He had a condo out there and she had planned to spend nearly every weekend there with him. But the six-hour bus rides to get there were expensive and it was inconvenient to keep leaving during the holidays.

At first when he'd left, they'd chatted online for hours every day and texted every night before bed. Somehow as the weeks went on, they'd lost something. It seemed every conversation they'd had was the same one repeating itself over and over. But he was coming back soon, and she'd have to face him.

"BEEEEP BEEP BEEP!" Just then her cell phone buzzed her back to real life as she sat, lost in thought, on her deck with her back against the rough, brick wall of her house. It was one of those brisk, sunny winter days where there is no breeze and everything seems frozen in time, as if the ice is actually holding everything outside in place.

She'd been enjoying the feeling of the sun beaming down on her face while still surrounded by cold air, when her phone interrupted her.

_I'm drunk. I miss you,_ read the text. It was from Alex. What time was it anyway? Why was he drunk so early in the day?

She looked at the display screen of her phone and saw that it was almost 4:00pm already. Later than she'd expected, but still too early for Al to be drunk.

She decided not to text him back just then. Why should she? It was one of the nicest texts she'd gotten from him lately, but not for the reasons she would have hoped for. It was simply because he was drunk and therefore comfortable enough to share an ounce of feeling without being forced.

The text made her angry more than anything else. She had been feeling very irritable that day. Up until then, she had been in an elated, paradisiacal state, replaying her night with Chris in her head a million times. She'd written poems, talked to herself out loud about it, even dreamt of them together. Today she had woken up with the realization of the possibility that he wasn't feeling the same way about her.

She stared out across her backyard, Chico's little doggy paw prints frozen in the snow. The sun was getting lower in the sky. Soon the cold would feel bitter and empty without the sun as a partner.

She sighed loudly, as if trying to make a dramatic effort for someone to hear her. She had wanted the text to be from Chris. She sent the first message to him the morning after the last hockey game. When he hadn't replied by the end of the day, she'd convinced herself that he just didn't check his phone very often. Now she was wondering why, after three sent texts, that she was even bothering to make excuses for him.

"Because I love him," she said aloud.

She surprised herself with this statement. Love. Did she actually love him? She had certainly never felt as much for one person in one night as she had during the night with Chris.

Suddenly she had made up her mind. Stubborn, insane, ridiculous, pointless…these were all possible ways to describe her plan. She would wait until he was moved back into the University of Western for the new semester, and then she would find him.


	4. Chapter 4

Three weeks into the new semester, two days after Alex returned from Montreal and an hour into her drive, Avaney had both hands resting lazily on the steering wheel and an open road before her

Three weeks into the new semester, two days after Alex returned from Montreal and an hour into her drive, Avaney had both hands resting lazily on the steering wheel and an open road before her. One benefit to moving back in with her parents after graduating was her access to a vehicle. She had told her mom the night before that she'd leave around noon today, but had woken up at 5am and decided to leave then. Soon her mom would be frantically calling her, demanding to know why she'd left without saying goodbye. Until then, she had silence, precious silence.

Avaney had wanted to leave and visit Chris weeks earlier, but had been waiting to hear back from him first. She'd wanted to see if he'd say anything about the time they'd spent together over the holidays, possibly confess that he'd always loved her. She gave him a week without letting herself get too frustrated. He was, after all, in his last semester of getting his Masters in Political Science. He was a busy guy. But as the third week with nothing came to an end, she'd had enough.

It was a Friday morning, but Avaney had left early enough to beat out the a.m. commuters. From her house in Mississauga, the drive would be about an hour and a half. She could probably get there faster with the lack of cars on the highway, but for some reason she was enjoying the slow and steady drive as the sun came up beside her.

Just then she passed a sign for Western; it was coming up in only a few exits! Her heart began to race uncontrollably…but it was followed by a sharp pang of guilt. Seeing Alex again the other night for the first time in months hadn't gone as badly as she had expected…and secretly hoped.

She'd arrived at Al's house that night wanting to see him and feel nothing. But he'd pulled her to him and held her so tightly. She'd buried her face into his chest suddenly feeling comforted by the faint smell of clean laundry and Old Spice deodorant…

She shook the recent memory from her head. It had been a nice moment, but the night had gone on to reveal what Avaney had already known. Something had become absent between them, leaving them with only the past to keep them together at all.

Within minutes, Avaney had gotten off the highway and pulled into the driveway to Chris' house. He lived here during the school year with roommates. She'd never been to this rundown, student house, but he'd sent her a birthday card from this address so she'd known where to find it.

She walked up the slanted driveway that was cracked and badly needed a new pave job. She hesitated briefly at the front door, it was fairly early still after all, then opened it and let herself in.

"Hello?" She called in a loud whisper. There was no answer but she could hear the sound of video games – guns firing and men yelling in foreign languages – coming from upstairs. She decided whoever was home must be awake so she chose to make her way upstairs.

The walls in the front hallway and on the way upstairs were off-white and dirty in places. There were small cracks in the paint, thumbtack holes and dents in various places on the walls, further branding the house as a student rental.

As she approached the room where the video game sounds were coming from, a guy with bright red hair and freckles holding an Xbox controller looked up at her from his bed.

"Uhh, who are you?" The carrot-topped guy asked.

"Hi!" Avaney answered back a little too excitedly. "Is Chris home? I came to visit."

"No, sorry." He responded. Avaney waited for a little more of an explanation but the redhead was already refocused on his game, not appearing to care that she was still standing there questioningly. She looked at his door and read the _hello my name is: Rob_ sticker on it.

"Listen Rob," she was suddenly impatient. "I just drove here from Mississauga and Chris has been ignoring me and I really miss him and need to talk to him."

This was a little more information than she had originally intended to give Rob, but waking up so early and then arriving here to a missing Chris was making her cranky.

This time Rob paused his game and turned to face her.

"Listen, dude. He's like, in Denmark for the semester. Don't get pissy with me just because you didn't know that," Rob said.

Avaney was stunned. She watched as Rob yet again resumed his game, all the while unable to move or say anything.

"When's he coming back?" Avaney's voice was small and filled with hurt. She didn't know what was more upsetting to her; Chris being gone or the fact that he hadn't even mentioned he was going.

"I think he said April or something, when classes are done."

"Oh. Okay..." She tried to say more but couldn't. Rob emitted some kind of grunt in response and with that, she turned to leave.


	5. Chapter 5

Avaney was still in shock by the time she eased the car onto her street in Mississauga

Avaney was still in shock by the time she eased the car onto her street in Mississauga. But as she did so, she realized she didn't want to be at home. Instead she continued driving right past her house, around the bend of her street and back toward the highway again. She was going straight to Alex's place.

She'd gone to Chris' looking for something; some reassurance that she hadn't just dreamt their whole amazing night together nearly a month ago. She'd left his house feeling unsatisfied and disappointed. She wanted someone to hold her close and make her forget the loneliness she'd been experiencing.

It was late in the morning by the time she arrived at Alex's, but he was just stumbling up the stairs from his room in the basement, half asleep, as she entered the house.

"What are you doing here?" He looked confused, like it was much too early in the morning to be dealing with visitors.

"Hi…sorry…I just…wanted to see you," Avaney managed to spit out. Since he'd returned, she hadn't really known how to act around him.

"Oh…well I'm just going to make some breakfast. Want some?"

"Sure, thanks."

Alex's definition of breakfast included an endless amount of bacon, a jug of orange juice, and toasted pieces of baguette drowning in margarine.

The first time he'd made breakfast for her was at his condo in Montreal a couple years before. They hadn't been dating yet; she had gone with him on the trip as a friend so they could snowboard together. He'd let her take the huge bed on the first night and in the morning he'd gotten up early to make breakfast and then poked her until she woke up.

She was still smiling wistfully at the memory of when she first had a crush on Alex as he brought her breakfast into the living room and set it down on the coffee table in front of her.

His dad, Jon, lived in England but had a house in Rexdale, Toronto and a condo in St. Sauver, Montreal. After Alex's mom passed away a few years back, Jon pretty much stopped visiting Canada. It was all the same to Alex. He'd been living alone since he was 16 anyway.

"So, find a job yet?" Alex asked.

"No, not yet," she answered. The truth was that she hadn't really been looking for a job since she graduated in December. She was supposed to be graduating in a few months, but had taken a summer semester to fast track and finish early. Now she didn't understand why she'd been so eager to graduate…she had nothing better to do now that she was done.

"Good bacon, isn't it?" Alex awkwardly asked. It was obvious neither of them knew what to talk about.

"Yeah, really greasy," she answered back, unable to make eye contact.

"I missed you Av," Alex said, his voice suddenly soft. "Why did you ignore half my messages?"

Avaney looked him in the eyes for the first time since she'd arrived that morning.

"Al, there was nothing to say." His face fell as she said this.

"You know I left because I had to...there was nothing for me here with school being done and then I got offered the instructing job..."

"But I was here! I finished school early and finally had time to just be with you and then...you left," she yelled back defensively. Until now Avaney hadn't really admitted to herself that she'd been hurt when he left.

"Av..." he sat down beside her on the couch and wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

She held back for a moment, then let herself sink in close to his body. She could feel the raised logo on his t-shirt pushing into the side of her cheek as he held her tight against his chest.

"You never said anything to me Av...you could have come with me..."

"You could have asked me to."

She felt the tears sting her eyes and squeezed them closed tightly. She was trying not to cry, but a mix of guilt about Chris and the realization of hers and Alex's broken relationship had become too much.

Who had she become? She'd been selfish in wanting them both, when really she deserved no one at all.


	6. Chapter 6

It was an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon in March, just over a month since Avaney had spent the morning at Al's

It was an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon in March, just over a month since Avaney had spent the morning at Al's. She was sitting on one of those white, plastic patio chairs – the ones that are cheap and tacky but for some reason everyone always has some – at her aunt and uncle's house in Aurora. It was Brooke's fourth birthday party.

"Mama!" Avaney heard Brooke call from inside the house. "Where's my SHOPPING CART?" Brooke had recently become obsessed with playing house. Grocery shopping, evidently, was a large part of Brooke's version of the role playing pastime.

Just then Deanna, her aunt, (whom she never got used to calling 'Aunt Deanna' much to her grandparents' dismay), retrieved the plastic miniature shopping cart from the patio beside Avaney, and rushed back into the house to give it to Brooke.

Although it was warmer than usual outside, there was still snow on the ground and a slight winter chill in the air. But after running around with Brooke and baby Rylie, her only two cousins that she'd do almost anything for, she'd needed some fresh air.

Avaney had been hanging out with Alex every few days in hopes of forgetting that so many things had changed while he was gone. They'd downloaded Disney movies and watched them all day one Saturday, and had even gone out to their favourite Thai food restaurant downtown, The Noodle Bowl.

They had both subconsciously decided that the more normal they acted with each other, the faster their relationship would go back to how it used to be. They had both been doing such a good job of pretending, that things _had_ actually been fun lately.

Suddenly Avaney was torn from her thoughts when she heard a voice from inside the house that resembled Chris'. She sat up straighter in her chair waiting to hear it again. There it was. This time she was sure…the unmistakably smooth, deep voice of Chris. He was here.

Without pausing to think for even a moment, Avaney pushed her chair back abruptly and burst through the back doorway of the house into the kitchen. She froze as she saw him in the front hallway, giving hearty hellos to all the family that had gathered around him.

She took a few steps toward Chris but stopped as little Rylie plowed toward him. She was only two, and small for her age. She looked like a doll compared to Chris as he bent forward and scooped her up in his arms. Rylie had always been shy but somehow Chris had gotten through to her somewhere in the past; they had some kind of bond. For a moment, Avaney felt jealous of the child as Chris gave her all that love and attention.

He put Rylie back on the ground and she grabbed his hand, just barely reaching it. Suddenly she looked straight at Avaney and started pulling Chris directly toward her.

She tried to motion NO to Rylie by aggressively shaking her head back and forth, but the two-year-old, oblivious to the situation, persisted.

It wasn't long before Chris gave in and let Rylie drag him forward. As he looked up, a sly grin appeared on his face. He glanced down at the little cling-on, then back at Avaney before rolling his eyes as if to say, how did you know, kid?

"Hi! Say hi!" Rylie yelled as they approached Avaney.

"Well hey there, Avro!" Chris shouted.

He'd given her the nickname years ago when he'd found out her middle name was Rachelle. He always called his sister Michele 'Mo' and figured Rachelle could be 'Ro'. He put her two names together to create Avro, like the Avro Arrow, a jet he loved as a kid. The fact that he'd used the nickname now made Avaney feel more like a chummy, old friend than ever.

"Hey, stranger!" She'd said it as a joke but it seemed Chris truly had been a stranger lately.

She kneeled down to her curious cousin who was still standing there, looking up at both of them with wide eyes.

"Ry, go play okay sweetie?" Rylie blinked her gigantic blue eyes knowingly at Avaney, then smiled and ran away happily.

Avaney stood up and the forced smile she'd been hosting fell from her face. She didn't know what to say first. Welcome back? He still hadn't even told her that he'd left. She was let off the hook when Chris spoke first.

"You look great Avaney," he managed to say.

She simply took his compliment as a flat-out lie after she remembered the minor effort she'd put into her appearance that day. She was wearing her favourite dark jeans, tight on her curvy hips and rolled up at the bottom to reveal her light pink ankle socks. She was wearing a plain, dark brown v-neck sweater and her wavy/curly brown hair pulled up into a messy bun. She'd made no particular effort to look good that day because she hadn't even considered Chris would be there.

"Hi!" Squeaked a perky blond bobble head appearing from around the corner.

"Agata! Come here and let me show you off," Chris said.

He wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders as she approached him, beaming down at her petite, perfect little frame.

"Avaney, this is Agata, my girlfriend."

Avaney slapped her hand to her mouth to cover the voiceless _oh my god_ she was mouthing. Without saying a word, she bolted upstairs and locked herself in the bathroom of her aunt and uncle's master bedroom.

Girlfriend? That immaculately groomed, pink-cheeked little vision of perfection was his _girlfriend?!_ Avaney slumped down to the floor, her back pressed against the bathroom counter and her knees pulled into her chest. She felt her own cheeks grow hot and the lump in her throat signaling she might break down.

All those years they'd known each other and not once had Chris expressed his feelings for her. One time, the year after they'd met, Avaney had gone to one of his concerts at the local community centre by his house. He'd stood on that stage so confidently, but innocent and humble at the same time. Each word that floated from his mouth, each strum of his acoustic guitar…she'd been completely intoxicated with him. After the show that night they had sat on the concrete floor of his then unfinished basement, not even saying a word to each other. They'd just stared, for hours, and it had been perfect. And even after that amazing night so early on, he had never shared his feelings for her.

Now, Avaney realized, he deserved feelings from her less than ever. So instead of crying, she willed the tears away from her eyes, stood up, and headed back downstairs to make _friends_ with Agata.


	7. Chapter 7

Avaney descended the staircase back to her family and…the happy couple

Avaney descended the staircase back to her family and…the happy couple. She crossed the white, tiled front hallway and entered the living room where Agata sat alone.

"Hey…Agata, right?" She said this questioningly, as if the name _hadn't_ been ringing in her ears since Chris first said it.

"Oh! Hi!" She sounded startled to see Avaney after her little outburst a few minutes earlier. "So, are you one of Chris' cousins?"

She hadn't meant any harm with this comment but it had stung regardless. It meant Chris had told Agata _nothing_ about her.

"Uhh…no…we're not related. We know each other through my aunt and his cousin, Deanna," Avaney explained, trying to sound nonchalant. "So, umm…how did you guys meet?"

"We met in January when he came to Copenhagen for his semester abroad…" She looked like she had more to say, but stopped and frowned when she saw the look of confusion on Avaney's face.

"You know, the University of Copenhagen? In Denmark? I guess he didn't tell you."

"Uhh…no…he mentioned it. I just…forgot," Avaney stammered, not wanting Agata to know the truth.

"Oh! Well anyway, we met on the track. We both do triathlons! We hit it off from there…" Avaney watched as she trailed off looking dreamily up to the ceiling. Her smooth, straight hair hung at her shoulders, neatly tucked behind her ears. This girl seemed too prim and proper to be a thriathlete. Probably one of the things Chris loved about her –beautiful and put-together but still athletic enough to get sweaty and not care.

Avaney found herself comparing her own athletic prowess to little Miss Triathlete. She had been a competitive gymnast through her childhood and most of high school. She ran her fingers over her once tight ab muscles and sighed. She still had muscle from when she used to train twelve hours a week, only now there was a little more flesh hiding those muscles away. She frequently promised herself she'd get back into some kind of work-out routine, but so far it hadn't happened. Now looking at the insanely fit bodies of both Chris and Agata, she felt like sitting in a corner and eating a tub of Half-Baked Haagan-Dasz ice cream until she exploded.

Avaney was going to attempt continuing conversation, when Chris entered the room and sat on the couch next to Agata.

"Hi Mr." she cooed to him. She gazed at Chris as if he had just fallen from her daydream and into real life.

"Hello my pretty," he replied. She shrugged her shoulders and let out a sugary sweet giggle.

Avaney stared blankly at the two of them, not wanting to interrupt their sickening display of affection for each other. She was tempted to run away again, when Chris finally peeled his eyes from Agata to speak to her.

"So what have you been up to, Avro?"

"I drove to your house." He stared at her, a nervous grin on his face. "I drove to your house and you weren't there. Where were you again….oh, right. Europe! Funny how that almost slipped my mind."

"I was going to tell you about Denmark…I just didn't want a fuss–"

"A FUSS? Didn't you think I deserved to know after everything that happened?" She had to stop before the tears began to pour from her eyes.

Agata had removed her hands from Chris' lap and placed them in her own, obviously catching on to the complicated situation unfolding before her.

"Avaney, it was nice meeting you. Chris, I want to leave," Agata said quietly without once making eye contact with either of them. And like the helpless, dependent puppy that he wasn't, he got up to follow her.


	8. Chapter 8

Avaney was lying on her back on her best friend Sienna's bed

Avaney was lying on her back on her best friend Sienna's bed. Her feet were pressed up on the coral pink wall in front of her, and her head was hanging over the edge of the bed so that the long waves in her hair hung almost to the ground. Sienna was sitting on the floor against the bed so that their heads were side by side.

"Okay so let me get this straight. You tell me you and Alex are fine and happy and miss each other every day, meanwhile, this WHOLE thing is happening with Chris and you don't say a word to me about it?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I guess I was ashamed of it or something," Avaney told her friend.

"Av, you've never been scared to tell me anything and I've never judged you. You must have been going crazy keeping all that to yourself."

"I kinda was, but I was hoping I could sort it all out _then_ tell you everything."

"Well now I know, so there are some pretty important questions I need to ask. First, was Chris a good kisser?" She asked with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Si! That doesn't even matter right now!" But she couldn't help laughing along with her friend. "And…yes! He was amazing!"

Sienna continued laughing at Avaney's obvious embarrassment for a minute before getting serious again. "So what are you gonna do?"

"He has a girlfriend. There's nothing I _can_ do," Avaney whispered sadly, her laughter suddenly gone. "What am I even saying? I have a boyfriend! Am I horrible for still wanting Chris?"

"No, Av. This boyfriend of yours packed up his bags and moved to another province for a few months without even giving you any say in it."

"But he was still my boyfriend…"

"But you and Chris have had something since the beginning, Av. Guys have come and gone but ever since you met him and we were hardly old enough to care about boys, you've been telling me stories about him."

"Stories…that's all they are."

"Remember that day you went shopping with Michele? You came home freaking out talking about Chris and not saying a _word_ about what you bought. Putting a boy before shopping? That's when I knew you loved him!"

Avaney remembered that day very well. Deanna had taken her and Michele to the brand new Vaughan Mills mall for the afternoon and later, they had driven Michele home first. Avaney had gone in to use the bathroom and there, standing in the front hallway, was Chris in his boxers with his guitar hanging around his neck. His hair had been tousled, and she had gotten the impression that he'd rolled out of bed that morning and just played guitar all day. She also remembered Michele staring back and forth between them with a huge grin on her face as if she'd known something that both Chris and Avaney were too clueless to see.

Sienna smiled and watched as Avaney seemed to instantly relax at the thought of Chris, before everything had gotten complicated.

"You know what, Av? We need to go out."

"Whyyyy?" Avaney grumbled, rolling over to squish her face into a pillow.

"Because we can't both sit here feeling sorry for you all day! Let's go out for ice cream. Ice cream always makes you happy," Sienna suggested.

"Only if you pay."

"Fiiiine," Sienna sighed. "Only because you're hopeless without me!"

Avaney smiled and dragged herself up from Sienna's bed. She really didn't understand how she'd gone for so long without letting her best friend know what was going on; especially since Sienna had been so understanding when she'd found out. Well at least now Avaney knew for sure that no matter how stupid the guys in her life were, she would never be alone.


	9. Chapter 9

_Hey Avaney,_

_Back in Denmark. Sorry about the other day. I know it was weird. We'll talk soon okay? _

_Miss you,_

_Chris_

She stared at the screen of her laptop for what seemed like the four hundredth hour since she'd first opened the email that evening. Every once in awhile her eyes would wander away from Chris' words to the piece of broken plastic sticking out from her screen that she never got fixed…or her finger nails that had grown fairly long but badly needed a nail file to shape them. Then as if by magnetic force, her eyes would refocus on the email, reading it over again in case somehow, the words had changed.

Finally she slammed the laptop closed and leaned back in her desk chair. Since her and Sienna had gone out for ice cream the week before, Avaney had been doing a good job of not thinking about Chris too much. She hadn't, however, been expecting an email from him. What she needed was to forget about him, as soon as possible.

As she often did when she had a problem, Avaney picked up her scratched, year-old Nokia from the desk beside her and dialed Alex's familiar number. He usually had a way of taking her mind off things.

"Hellooo?" He answered. She always thought it was funny how she could hear the slightest bit of a British accent from his childhood spent in England whenever he answered the phone.

"Hey. Wanna hang out?"

"Sure, I'm on my third beer. Bring some rum or something."

Avaney wouldn't normally choose to drink unless there was some kind of special occasion, but tonight seemed like an appropriate time to give in and break her own rules.

"Alright, I'm on my way."

After the thirty-minute drive through Friday night rush hour traffic, Avaney was standing at the bar in Alex's living room. The Industrial Design college students who used to live in his house made the bar out of an old cabinet that the neighbours had put out with the trash. She ran her fingers over the surface of it, dented and stained by glasses that had been placed down without coasters at past house parties. For a brief moment she imagined the bar in Chris' parents' house, flawlessly smooth and polished. Then the moment was gone and she looked up to see Alex staring at her thoughtfully from the couch.

"You okay?" He asked, although he seemed nervous to actually hear her response.

"Sure, I'm fine. I'm just making my drink," she answered.

"Well, you looked lost there for a minute. Anyway there's coke in the mini-fridge if you want to mix–"

"Yeah I'll get it thanks," she replied, not even giving him time to finish his sentence. She knew she was being short with him, but her mind was distracted and wouldn't allow her to behave any other way.

Avaney finished mixing her drink and brought it with her to the couch. Alex turned away from the television where a Futurama rerun was playing and faced her, his own beer in hand. She couldn't help but notice there were now four empty bottles on the coffee table in front of them.

"So…were you planning to get drunk by yourself tonight?" She asked, her eyebrows raised with slight concern.

"Nope, I knew you'd call me."

"Oh so you wanted to be drunk in case I decided to come over? Wow, thanks Al," she said sarcastically. Alex laughed in response, a natural, easy way about him as he sat slouched in the corner of the couch.

"You've seemed stressed out lately, and I thought we could have a few drinks and relax…and maybe have a little fun," he said casually, but looking directly at her to catch her response.

"Well, if that's what you wanted, you should have just asked me to come over in the first place instead of waiting for me to call you."

"You're here now, right? Start drinking," he teased, not taking her seriously.

She squinted her eyes and glared at him but couldn't help the smile that was creeping onto her face. Maybe she had been right to come here tonight. Maybe it was Alex after all that would help her relax and forget about Chris.

Avaney lifted her drink to her nose and recoiled after giving it a sniff.

"Ugh, this is strong," she complained.

"Okay let's finish our drinks when I say go. Then you can just make a new, better one after!" Alex was pleased with his suggestion and held is nearly empty beer bottle up to his mouth. "GO!"

Avaney decided there was no point objecting. She plugged her nose and within about eight seconds, she had completely downed her rum and coke (but mostly rum).

"I feel better already!" She actually felt a little nauseous, but was enjoying the warm feeling of alcohol suddenly flowing through her bloodstream. Without hesitation, she quickly got up to make another drink and grab Alex another beer.

A few drinks later, Alex was still slumped in the corner of the couch but Avaney had somehow managed to fit herself next to him in such a way, that his body was acting as a form-fitting pillow. His arm was hanging lazily over her shoulders and her arms were wrapped around his stomach. She was resting her head on his chest and it was as if she could hear his slow, steady heartbeat through a microphone compared to the distant sound of South Park on the television.

She finally felt at ease. Probably it was the alcohol, but she liked to think it was Alex's calm presence that was helping her to relax into the moment. She felt him run his fingers up the top of her arm and to the back of her neck, pausing to graze just the tip of her earlobe. She closed her eyes as she felt a shiver creep up her spine.

"Mmm," she hummed as she tilted her up toward Alex's. And then he kissed her very softly, gently biting her bottom lip as he pulled his face away to look at her.

"Wanna have a sleepover?" He asked coyly as he placed his hand under the bottom of her shirt and began lightly scratching her back. She couldn't resist.

"Yes," she grinned. "And it's getting late…we better get to bed."


	10. Chapter 10

Avaney unpeeled herself from Alex's comfortable body on the couch and stood up in front of him, grabbing his hands to pull him up too

Avaney unpeeled herself from Alex's comfortable body on the couch and stood up in front of him, grabbing his hands to pull him up too.

"Do I have toooo?" He teased, pouting his bottom lip.

"Yes!" She giggled. He finally let her pull him up and he stood inches from her, looking straight down as if she were miles below him.

"Did you shrink recently? I don't remember you being this much shorter than me," he said, a quizzical look on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm short, what else is new?" In reality she was 5'4" which she thought was a fairly average height, but Alex was about 6'1" and therefore _did _look down at her. She'd always liked his teasing because it made him feel big and macho and her feel protected in his arms; a win-win situation.

Alex smiled at her warmly and genuinely, then grabbed her waste and pulled her to close to him. He lowered his head to kiss her and she subconsciously got up on her tiptoes to kiss him back. She put her arms around his neck to steady herself. With her eyes being closed, the alcohol was making her slightly dizzy.

As if they'd been programmed to move as one, they hastily made their way to Alex's bedroom in the basement, only pausing their passionate kisses to safely make it down the old, wooden staircase.

They entered Alex's room and Avaney jumped backwards onto his bed, feeling the thick, navy blue duvet cover swallow her up. Alex crawled onto the bed overtop of her and began exploring the front of her body with his hands. She kissed him hard, eager to feel the closeness she had been without for months.

"Take your shirt off," she said in a husky whisper. He followed her orders without hesitation as she, too, pulled her own shirt over her head and threw it carelessly to the floor.

He was breathing heavily and staring down at her intently as if waiting to be given his next order. She looked up at him and ran her hands over his bare chest. Kissing him moments before had been familiar and comfortable and her body seemed to fit just right against his. The problem was what she was feeling inside; it seemed she hadn't had quite enough alcohol to mask it all.

"Al…I need to talk to you about something." The look of desire instantly left his eyes and was replaced by a solemn expression, as if he knew what was coming. He rolled off of her and laid down beside her, his head propped up with his hand.

"When you were gone…" She was struggling to find the right words. "You left without giving me any say and so I tried to forget about you, and then–"

"I know, Av."

"You know what?"

"I know about Chris…I know about your night with him…" Avaney's mouth hung open and her eyes were wide with shock. She could not have imagined more but he continued. "I know you felt, or feel, really strongly for him…and that he's been in your life for a long time…"

"Stop, please." The words were too much for her to bear. She felt completely ashamed. How could he have known and still acted so normal all night?

"Av, it's okay," he coaxed. But to Avaney, it didn't feel okay. Minutes before she had been ready to share with Alex what she'd had bottled up for months, even years. Now it seemed everything was backwards, out of her control.

"How come you're not mad at me?" She asked, searching his eyes in the dim room, lit only by the glow of his computer screen.

"Because I know I fucked us up when I left Av…I didn't realize it right away but when I came back and everything was different, I knew it was my fault."

If it was possible to have a million thoughts at once, Avaney was doing it. The whole time her and Alex had been dating, he'd never opened up and been this mature with her. It was as if he had gone to Montreal to grow up and had come back a different version of himself.

Suddenly Avaney clued in to one key part of Alex's story that was still missing.

"Al…how did you find out about Chris?"

"I don't know if I can say…" The intense look on her face stopped him mid-sentence.

"Just tell me…"

"Sienna."


	11. Chapter 11

The blue lights of Avaney's clock radio read 4:26am. When she was little her mom used to tell her not to stare at the clock when she was trying to fall asleep or else she'd just be watching time pass and getting more and more upset that she was still awake. Tonight Avaney didn't care. She had no desire to sleep, or be awake, or do anything, really.

A few hours ago, Alex had admitted to already knowing about her and Chris, and it was Sienna who had given him all the details. Avaney felt betrayed. She had held off from telling her friend about the whole Chris situation and had felt guilty for doing so. Now it seemed Sienna was getting back at her for some cruel, misunderstood reason.

Avaney had planned to stay over at Alex's but changed her mind and took a cab home after his unexpected confession about _her_ secret. It wasn't that she'd needed to get away from him, especially after he'd been so relaxed and mature about Chris, it was more that she'd needed to absorb what Sienna had done without distractions.

4:31am. The numbers on her clock blurred as she shifted her gaze to the framed photograph sitting on her desk in the background. It was too dark to make out the figures, but Avaney didn't need light to show her what was there; she could see every inch of the picture clearly in her head. Sienna's head was tilted to the side revealing her long, dirty blonde hair dropping like a waterfall straight down over her shoulders…and she stood back-to-back with Avaney, both of them crossing their arms over their chests. She remembered how fashionable they'd thought they were at the time wearing flower-print bikini tops and spandex shorts. Along the top of the frame in purple, sparkly letters it said _Best Friends_.

Avaney smiled to herself in the dark as she imagined the ridiculous, old photo…but she felt defeated. How could Sienna have gone behind her back to tell Alex about Chris? It was late, or early from the next day's point of view, but Avaney knew she had to try calling Sienna or she'd never sleep. She snatched her phone from beside her clock radio and sat up in her bed. As she dialed Sienna's cell, she was suddenly wide awake and anxious.

"Hello…" Came the groggy, raspy voice of Sienna after five rings. It was obvious she had answered the phone just to shut it up.

"Sienna…"

"Av? Did you just call me Sienna? You never use my full name…" She sounded worried, and instantly more awake.

"You told Al. What the hell were you thinking!?" Sienna's end was silent for a few seconds as she registered what Avaney was saying to her.

"I didn't think…I wanted him to–"

"How on EARTH did sharing that information have ANYTHING to do with you?" Avaney was exasperated. "I really needed to say that stuff to him myself and instead you go and break the news like it's dinner conversation! Did you somehow get the impression that I _wanted_ you to get involved like that?"

"No, Av…just listen to me for a minute…please…"

"No, I don't think I wanna listen to you. You're _lucky_ Al wasn't furious with me or I wouldn't have even given you the courtesy of this call. I would have just gone on with my life and _never_ spoken to you again," she yelled, wondering if her parents could hear her from their bedroom down the hall.

"Okay then, Avaney. Obviously you didn't call to hear what I have to say. All you wanted was to freak out and make me feel like shit," she said, anger and desperation rising in her voice.

"I don't believe it! You're acting like I don't deserve to be pissed!" Avaney retorted.

"Oh, you wanna talk about what everyone deserves? Didn't Alex _deserve_ to know about Chris right away? Didn't he _deserve_ to have a girlfriend who didn't cheat on him when she got a little lonely?" Sienna knew immediately that she'd gone too far, but was too angry to take the words back. Avaney's heart was pounding as she aggressively closed her flip phone and threw it to the floor in response to Sienna's harsh words.

She was furious; and she wasn't planning to get over it any time soon.


	12. Chapter 12

Avaney's arm jerked forward as Chico abruptly charged after a group of teenagers up ahead, only to be rudely interrupted by the restraint of his leash. People would often stop on the path to admire the reddish brown miniature poodle that looked like a harmless puppy; then his feistiness would kick in and he'd growl and surge back at them aggressively. Avaney always found it amusing that something so small could have such power.

Her and Chico had been walking around on the connecting pathways through her neighbourhood for nearly an hour now. It felt colder than it should have with the first official day of spring passing the week before. It was as if the unnaturally cool chill in the air was mimicking the frostiness Avaney was feeling toward Sienna.

She had been expecting Sienna to overwhelm her with apologetic phone calls during the days following their late-night conversation. Instead, it seemed they were _equally_ angry and unwilling to speak with each other. What Avaney didn't understand, was why Sienna had acted like _she_ was the victim in the situation. No matter how much she tried to view everything through Sienna's eyes, it still didn't make sense to her.

Avaney watched Chico happily trotting along in front of her, enjoying the unusually long walk. If only her life were as simple as her dog's, her biggest concern would be getting scolded for tipping the bathroom garbage can over. She continued pondering life as a dog as she turned into her driveway and walked up to the side door entrance of the house. Chico scratched excitedly on the door with his front claws, eagerly awaiting the chance to quench his thirst with toilet water.

She followed slowly behind him, not nearly as enthusiastic to enter the quiet house. Her parents were both working, so she'd be alone for the next few hours before she got home. She considered asking Alex to come pick her up for the rest of the day, but didn't think she would be very good company with her thoughts as scattered as they were.

Avaney sunk down into the slate grey leather couch in her living room, allowing herself to consider a new possibility. Perhaps Sienna had been onto something when she said Alex deserved someone who he could trust –someone who wouldn't be chasing after Chris the way Avaney had been doing for years. But since when had Sienna taken Alex's side over hers?

She stared into the kitchen from her spot on the couch, eyeing the telephone on the wall. She knew it would be right to just call Sienna and try to talk to her again, but instead she stubbornly closed her eyes and slumped further into the couch, shifting her thoughts to Chris. A small grin settled on her face as she imagined Chris holding his guitar, Chris holding a Macedonian flag at the annual hockey tournament, Chris holding her hand…

It was useless. Avaney could no longer feel comforted by thoughts of Chris. There was a time when picturing his face and his arms around her made her heart race with excitement and happiness. That wonderful feeling of ease was now replaced with the awful feeling of her stomach twisting in anger and sadness. Avaney realized there was only one way to deal with these feelings that were overwhelming her. Suddenly motivated, she marched to her bedroom and grabbed a small stack of Hilroy lined paper. Then, she began to write.


	13. Chapter 13

Avaney stood face-to-face with the mailbox at the end of her street, trying to convince herself not to run away. In her hands, clammy thanks to her nerves, was a letter she had written for Chris. What had started off as simply a way to organize some of her thoughts, had turned into a messy, angry letter containing everything she wanted Chris to know she'd been feeling.

She wrote about how hurt she'd been when she realized he wasn't going to acknowledge their night together, and how her heart had broken when she'd found out about him leaving for Denmark unannounced.

She called him names and accused him of wasting years of her life that she could have been giving to someone else…she'd even told him that he wasn't good enough for her and from now on she was going to focus on Alex.

She could feel the anger rising inside of her all over again and subconsciously she wiped at the streams of mascara that had stained her cheeks from earlier tears.

Thinking about the things that had pissed her off while writing the letter suddenly gave Avaney the confidence she needed to mail it. She glanced down at the envelope in her hands one last time, then dropped it in the mail slot and turned to walk home.

Instantly, Avaney felt lighter. She looked up at the trees and houses on her street for what seemed like the first time in months. She saw the faded, ripped kite that had been lodged in the tree outside her neighbours' house the summer before.

She saw the old, Italian man down the road watering his front lawn, and his two doe-eyed grandchildren happily drawing on the sidewalk in front of him with coloured chalk. Avaney smiled to herself as she realized life had been going on around her while she'd been a sloth for the last few months, moping around pitying herself.

She got back to her house just as her dad was pulling into the driveway.

"Hey hon, how's it goin'?"

"Great! How was work?"

"Umm, are you feeling okay? You just sounded…enthusiastic…happy or something…" She knew she'd been down lately, but hadn't realized that even her parents were aware of it.

"I'm fine, Dad. I really am now," she told him as they walked into the house.

"Well, that's good to hear. By the way, I emailed you a link to that ING Direct savings plan I wanted you to look into. Did you check it yet?" She rolled her eyes behind his back. Her dad was always looking into the newest, easiest way to save a few bucks.

"Not yet. I'll go take a look now," she called to him as she ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

She grabbed her laptop from the floor and placed it on her bed in front of her. She wasn't too interested in the email her dad had sent her, but Avaney thought she'd at least humour him and take a look.

She opened her email inbox expecting to see her father's name listed in the _Sender_ column of her newest message. Instead, she read the word _Chris_.

An email from Chris? She was curious to open it but hesitated, letting the cursor of her mouse hover carelessly off to the side of her screen for a few moments before actually clicking on the message.

Avaney inhaled sharply as the thick block of text opened in front of her, revealing a detailed email, completely unlike his last. This one had the characteristics of someone who was writing everything he was thinking without pausing for breaks. Bad punctuation, no spaces in between paragraphs, many long, run-on sentences…this was so unlike Chris that Avaney had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself before really reading the words.

_Avaney…I miss you so much I don't even know where to start…_


	14. Chapter 14

Avaney covered her face with her hands, half hoping the email would just delete itself while she wasn't looking. But much to her angst, the email continued staring her in the face when she uncovered her eyes. She took a deep breath then started reading from the beginning.

_Avaney…I miss you so much I don't even know where to start…well I do know. I should start by saying I'm sorry…I'm so sorry Avaney..for everything. i know i'm terrible for going to denmark and saying nothing to you about it…i was scared after that night together at my house because we've always had something between us but nothing has ever really gone that far and i just didn't know what to do. what if something gets messed up with us and then it's awkward at family get togethers? i guess i already kinda messed things up but if we took things farther and then something happened and it was just over? and agata…she is a sweetheart and I really care about her and she loves me…she is perfect for me…but soemthing isn't there with her..something is missing…_

Avaney's mouth hung open as she read through the rest of Chris' email. The gravity of all he was saying was condensed into such short thoughts, that it was obvious he wrote the email in a rush to clear his head.

She was unsure of how she felt. On the one hand, Avaney wanted to just forget about everything else in her life; to melt into what Chris was saying and let the words keep her warm and protected from anything outside the two of them. On the other hand, she'd already sent Chris the letter containing her lengthy lash-out featuring all the things she'd been pissed about.

Avaney felt a twinge of panic as she thought about the letter she'd sent just a few minutes before. Where Chris' email was a desperate plea for her to understand and forgive him, Avaney's letter was filled with cold, raw anger. What would he think of her when he read it? Would he still miss her and want her instead of Agata? And more importantly, did she even want _him_?

Things had been going okay with Alex lately; in fact, she had been enjoying her time with him. It wasn't the passionate romance that she often imagined continuing with Chris, but Alex understood her and he was always there for her when she was upset. Immediately Avaney felt guilt swimming around in her stomach; usually when she was upset it was about Chris, afterall.

The guilt got the best of her and she grabbed her phone from her nightstand beside her, dialing Alex's number from memory.

"Hellooo?" he answered.

"Hey you."

"Hey?" He sounded unsure.

"Um, it's Avaney," she replied, a little aggravated that he hadn't recognized her voice.

"Oh, sorry Av. What's up?"

"I'm bored. Let's do something. Can you come pick me up?"

"Yeah…I guess," he responded after hesitating. Avaney sensed that he wasn't really keen on hanging out that afternoon.

Suddenly she heard a voice in the background. It was a female one.

"Al, are you with someone?" Avaney asked.

"Uh, no…" His voice was unconvincing.

"Don't say anything!" Avaney heard a voice hiss from the background. Now she knew Al wasn't alone.

"Who's there? Is that...Sienna?" She asked weakly. Avaney was afraid to know the answer.

"Av, I'll call you later, okay?" And with that, the line was dead.

Avaney pulled the phone away from her face, not fully sure of what had just happened.

Alex had sounded strange and distant from the moment he answered the phone, and his abrupt reaction when she'd asked about Sienna led her to believe she was right about them being together. But why? Since when did they hang out?

With the discovery of this odd little secret, Avaney's anger toward Sienna had multiplied immensely. She wanted to understand what was going on and why their perfect, fight-less friendship had suddenly turned so sour in the last few weeks.

Avaney knew she had to speak with one them, and soon, or else she would only continue falling further away from the truth.

As she grabbed a sweater and her purse to leave the house, Avaney could only think of how ironic this situation was. She'd called Alex for comfort and a break from her thoughts about Chris, but he'd led her right back to the beginning; wanting to be with Chris more than ever.


	15. Chapter 15

Avaney pulled her mom's car into Alex's driveway and removed the key from the ignition. In her rearview mirror she could see a familiar car parked on the road a few houses down, and she knew who it belonged to. The tan-coloured Oldsmobile had been passed down to Sienna from her parents a few years before.

She closed her eyes for a second, trying to briefly go over what she intended on saying to Alex and Sienna but felt slightly sick to her stomach as she realized she had no clue.

Without dragging out her thoughts any longer, Avaney left the car and walked up to the house. She pulled the screen door open and just as she was about to turn the handle of the front door, it swung open to reveal Sienna and Alex lost in a tight embrace.

Sienna's back was to her and Alex's face was buried into her neck. Sienna had obviously reached behind her to open the door without even bothering to turn and face it, because neither her nor Alex had even noticed Avaney's presence in the doorway.

Avaney stood there, speechless, with her eyes wide in shock. Her heart had already been pounding under the effects of her nerves, but now the beating was like a drum, banging uncontrollably inside her body.

After what seemed like centuries, Sienna drew back from Alex, letting her arms linger on his shoulders. It was at this moment when Alex finally realized Avaney was in the doorway, suddenly jumping back from Sienna as if she were a giant snake.

"Av!" He shouted much too loudly.

"What is this…are you guys…" Words could not find her.

"Well I guess I'll just get outta your way then, Avaney. No need for me to come between yours and Alex's _perfect_ relationship!" The sarcasm in Sienna's voice burned into her body like a fiery poison.

"Sienna…I'm just…I'm shocked. I don't get this."

"You wouldn't! You don't see anything because you're so worried about yourself all the time to notice what's happening right in front of you!"

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you calling me selfish?"

"You ARE selfish! You had Al, and that wasn't enough for you. Then he found out about Chris and forgave you and STILL you've been moping around about Chris, haven't you?" Sienna had tears in her eyes now, but her brow was still furrowed in anger. "And what do _I_ have? Al deserves better than you…he deserves _me_."

Avaney gaped at her, horrified. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Alex's stare fall from Sienna straight to the ground.

Sienna was breathing heavily and her hands were balled up into fists. She waited for either Avaney or Alex to say something, and when they didn't, Sienna shoved past Avaney and out the front door.

She blocked Sienna from her mind for a moment and tried to focus on Alex.

"I want to know what's going on, Al."

"I know. Go sit on the couch and I'll tell you everything."


	16. Chapter 16

Avaney solemnly walked to the couch in stunned silence and sat down. Al followed slowly behind her, as if he were walking the plank.

Avaney felt his thigh brush hers as he sat down, and without thinking she shifted over just enough to not be touching him. Alex noticed this, and the pain in his face somehow deepened.

"Okay listen, Av…the hug that you saw just now…that's all it was. Just a hug." Avaney shot a look of fire in his direction.

"You can hug whoever you want. I'm more concerned that you _lied_ about having someone here, and Sienna of all people! How did that seem okay to you?"

"It wasn't okay…and on the phone I was completely caught off guard…she just showed up here…I didn't know what to say to you," he stammered. Avaney could hear the despair in his voice and warmed slightly to him. It was mostly Sienna she pissed at after all.

"So why did she come here then?"

"Well, that's the complicated part…"

"Oh yeah and the rest has been _simple_ so far, right?" She couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice.

"Av…"

"Okay sorry, go on."

"Alright. So, Sienna and I have been…talking more than usual lately. It started with her telling me about you and Chris." Avaney gulped, not knowing if she'd be able to handle talking about Chris today, too. "Anyway, she wasn't taking it well. She kept saying I deserved better."

"Yeah I heard that part a few minutes ago, remember? Apparently _she_ is the kind of person you deserve."

"Right…well that's kinda what I was gonna say…she wants to be with me," Alex finally managed to spit out. Avaney watched relief wash over his face and realized this was one of the big things he'd been dreading telling her.

"So…she…likes you then," Avaney said more as a statement than a question.

"It's more than that, Av…she…told me she loves me," Alex stumbled, his eyes focused on the floor in front of him.

"WHAT? Since when? You guys hardly know each other!"

"Well not exactly…there's something you never knew from before…"

"There seems to be lots of things I don't know lately so _enlighten_ me, please," Avaney shot back at him. The discomfort that had pained Alex's face earlier had once again returned.

"Before I left for Montreal in the winter…me and Sienna…kissed," Alex said, seeming to recoil from his own words. Avaney stared at him, dumbfounded, as if she hadn't heard him at all. "It was at that party one of your friends was having celebrating the end of the semester."

Avaney brought herself back to that night. Her, Sienna and Alex had walked to the party from Avaney's house, giggling the whole way there about every random little thing. She remembered feeling happy that her best friend and her boyfriend were getting along so well.

Avaney felt the sting as she also remembered not really hanging out with either them once they'd arrived at the party…she'd been distracted by her other friends.

Alex was watching her carefully, almost as if he were trying to hear Avaney's thoughts.

"You looked so happy with all your school friends, like you were all sharing something…special. I mean it was the end of the semester for everyone but for you it was the end of school forever. You just seemed so in the moment with everyone." Avaney considered this, and realized Alex had gotten it dead on.

"Sienna and I both felt left out…like it wasn't really our party to be at," he continued nervously. "So we went outside and sat in the backyard for awhile…just talking about whatever…and then she just leaned in and kissed me out of nowhere."

"I can't believe it…I mean you came home with me that night and acted totally normal…"

"No I didn't, Av. I was completely out of my mind…but you had been so caught up with the party and so happy with the whole night that you just…didn't notice." Avaney saw now that he'd been torn up by the kiss and probably hurt that she hadn't noticed his distress.

"So she's basically wanted to steal you from me this whole time then…I can't believe her!"

"Well no, Av. She's not totally in the wrong for feeling the way she did…" Alex leaned back on the couch, staring at the ceiling in an attempt to gather his thoughts. "I mean…what I'm trying to say is…I didn't pull away when she kissed me…I…kissed her back."


	17. Chapter 17

The expression on Avaney's face was unchanging. She'd heard so much already that Alex succumbing to Sienna's kiss was hardly a shocking surprise. She calmly turned to look at him, noticing his apparent distress.

She further studied his face; the tuft of brown facial hair on his chin, the dim sparkle of his grey-blue eyes…and suddenly she was seeing him from Sienna's point of view.

Everything slowly started making sense. Alex and Sienna had shared a kiss…one that had probably meant more to both of them than either of them had realized at the time. Alex had left for Montreal confused while Sienna had probably spent the whole time waiting for him to get back; waiting to know what the kiss had meant.

"You know, she felt awful after…" Alex suddenly said, his barely-audible voice interrupting her thoughts.

"And you?"

"I felt bad too…of course…"

"But neither of you felt guilty enough to tell me…"

"I wanted to tell you…and then when Sienna told me about Chris and you…"

"You thought we were even?"

"Yeah, something like that," he answered. Avaney considered this and realized a part of her had always thought they were equal in their wrongs committed.

Avaney hadn't known about the kiss until now, but she'd known Alex had quickly become distant from her when he'd left for Montreal. In Avaney's mind, it was almost as if her actions with Chris were equaled by Alex's willingness to grow apart from her.

Avaney was also just realizing her lack of anger toward Alex throughout the whole situation. Even when she'd found out Alex and Sienna were hanging out and then he'd lied about it, Avaney still had only felt fuming rage toward Sienna.

"Al, do you think maybe me and you just aren't meant to be together anymore?" Alex looked stricken, obviously not expecting this from her.

"Well, is that what you think?" He asked, scared to tell her his real feelings.

"I think if we were both still in this, you would have been _a lot_ more upset about Chris, and me about Sienna," Avaney said, leaning her cheek lightly against Alex's shoulder. He tilted his chin down and kissed the top of her head, letting out a deep sigh.

"You know you're gonna have to talk to Sienna about everything, right?"

"I know…but I think you really need to talk to her too," Avaney said, knowing even without having spoken to Sienna for weeks exactly what her friend would need.

"Yeah, me and Sienna are gonna have to figure a few things out, I guess," he answered, lifting his head to look at her. "So are we…friends then?" Avaney looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, friends," she agreed.

Alex and Avaney stood up from the couch and walked toward the front door simultaneously, as if both knowing the conversation had come to an end.

Once she had put her shoes on, Avaney stood up and gave Alex a reassuring grin. He put his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to him.

"This might possibly be the most sane break up either of us will ever experience," he said as he squeezed her.

"I know!" She laughed, holding on to the hug a few moments longer.

"Alright get outta here before you start getting sad or something," he joked.

"I'm going, I'm going," she said as she pulled away from him. As she did so, she realized she _was_ sad; not because of losing Alex as her boyfriend, but because this comfortable, easy part of her life was ending.

"We can still hang out you know," Alex comforted her.

"Good," she answered as she turned to leave his house.

Then Avaney shut Alex's front door behind her, at the same time shutting the door on their relationship for the last time.


End file.
